bUSINESS

SMALL-BUSINESS STORAGE

NAS Boxes for Small Biz

For any small business, the need for reliable storage cannot be underestimated. Sure, the cloud offers a good offsite solution for many companies, but what if your Internet connection goes down (or is otherwise unreliable)? Having a good onsite storage solution that’s accessible from multiple locations will ensure that your vital data stays safe and confidential. Here are three new entries in the network attached storage (NAS) market we’ve recently reviewed at PC Labs.

Acer Aspire easyStore H340

The easyStore H340 is a NAS device that supports up to 4 terabytes. It is quiet, small enough to fit on your desk, and runs only the basic features of Windows Home Server (WHS). Though this NAS device offers some welcome conveniences, such as support for

Acer Aspire easyStore H340

$400 street

L llmm PROS Simple-to-use Windows Home Server interface. CONS Networking nightmare if your PC cannot detect NAS with UPnP. Remote access difficult to setup.

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Seagate BlackArmor NAS 220

2TB, $449.99 list

L lllm PROS Excellent blend of consumer and enterprise features, such as iTunes, FTP, SSL, and UPS management. CONS The help files need improvement. Somewhat difficult to access drives.

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DLNA appliances and the inclusion of an iTunes server, the setup is a bit too complicated for a networking layman due to some issues with WHS.

The H340 comes with a 1TB SATA hard drive, and has three additional drive bays, each with LED lights to indicate each drive’s status. The case also includes four USB ports, an Ethernet port, and e-SATA port. As mentioned, setting up the drive with WHS was challenging because the server OS requires using a WHS Connector service and Toolkit on network computers. But on the plus side, WHS has network monitoring capability and the automated backup feature is highly configurable. The H340 also includes a McAfee Total Protection feature that scans the NAS folders for malware. For performance, this NAS drive is about in the middle of the pack, yielding 10.3 Mbps with our 504MB test file. So overall, the H340 shows a lot of promise, but isn’t for those without some networking experience.

Seagate BlackArmor NAS 220

Seagate released the 220 as a smaller prosumer version of its business-class BlackArmor 440. But the company retained many of the enterprise features available on the larger product, so you get the best of Seagate in this tiny box.

The NAS 220 is one of the smallest NAS devices on the market, about one-third the size of the Acer H340. The case, albeit boring, has a Gigabit network port, plus two USB 2.0 ports. The box can fit two drives for either a 2GB or 4GB capacity. Seagate bundles a BlackArmor Discovery utility that finds the NAS on the network in seconds. It also has a Web server that displays the NAS management pages. Despite its limited hard drive configuration (uses RAID 1 by default), the NAS 220 supports the SMART

Western Digital WD ShareSpace

4TB, $799.99 direct

L lllh PROS Highly intuitive Web interface. Plenty of management features and storage configurations. Runs cool and quiet. CONS Hard drives are not truly hot swappable. Help files for advanced features aren’t always helpful.

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(self monitoring reporting technology) storage manager. You can also generate an SSL certificate, and the UPS feature will shut it down safely if there’s a power failure. This drive clocked 9.4 Mbps when transferring our 1.05GB test file.

In short, the versatile NAS 220 comes with features you would expect in a consumer storage device as well as a small business NAS.

Western Digital WD ShareSpace

The ShareSpace NAS is one of the most simple-to-master storage devices on the market. It includes top-notch features, such as multiple RAID configurations and remoteaccess services, all blended into a simple user interface.

The WD ShareSpace is a cube-like metal enclosure measuring about 8 inches all around. The front of the case includes three USB ports, with two in the back. The ShareSpace has four drive bays, each of which can hold a 1 TB or 2 TB hard drive. The device comes configured with RAID 5 out of the box.

Like Seagate, Western Digital includes a discovery utility that performed as well as the Seagate tool, and much better than the Acer’s Windows Home Server. It also has the friendliest Web interface. In addition to a built-in FTP server, Western Digital provides free remote access to the folders and files using online service MioNet It. The CD also includes the WD Anywhere Backup program. The ShareSpace also bested the Seagate NAS box in performance, averaging 11.2 Mbps on our 1.05GB test file. For its compact size, quiet operation, and superior software and interface, the ShareSpace is the best overall package—and our Editors’ Choice.—Mario Morejon

3M Pocket Projector MPro120

A Stylish Pico Projector

Pico projectors—defined as small enough to fit comfortably in a shirt pocket—don’t qualify as new anymore, but they’re still rare. Just try using one in a public space—connecting it to a camera to show a friend some photos, say—and see what happens. You’ll quickly find that it’s high on the list of gadgets that encourage total strangers to come over and start conversations. That’s particularly true of the MPro120, which offers a sleek design, a screw-on tripod with flexible legs, and reasonable image quality that works for both video and data.

The MPro120 is about the size and heft of an electric razor, measuring 1 by 2.4 by 4.7 inches (HWD) and weighing 5.6 ounces. The solid matte black finish and rounded edges give it a decidedly sleek look and feel. Setup is easy, and in addition to the standard VGA/ RCA cable, you can buy an optional component video cable (with a cable for iPods and iPhones coming soon).

The MPro120 has a VGA native resolution of 640 by 480 and an LED that’s rated for 20,000 hours. However, 3M has made a fundamental change in the engine. The first-generation engine used a white LED as a light source, while this new engine uses red, green, and blue LEDs in sequence. The sequential approach is intended to display richer colors, but it also results in a slight rainbow effect, which means the light areas of a moving image can break up into little red-green-blue rainbows. Also, the audio quality and volume limit was lackluster. But you do get good battery life, lasting 4 hours in Normal mode. All told, the Mpro 120 is an attractive choice as both a hard-toresist gadget and a potentially useful tool. —M. David Stone

3M Pocket Projector MPro120

$350 street

L lllm PROs Fits in a shirt pocket. Connects to computers and video sources. Rechargeable battery. CONs Although brighter than the first-generation version, it’s still not very bright. Audio is barely loud enough to be usable.

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500

$495 direct

L lllm PROS Document and business-card scanner. Rated at 20 pages per minute (ppm), or 40 images per minute (ipm) for both sides. CONS Lack of a standard driver means you can’t give a scan command from within a program.

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500

Zippy Document Scanner

Fujitsu has done a great job of turning out one impressive scanner after another, ratcheting up performance and features over the years. The S1500 fits firmly in that tradition, with faster speed and much improved software than the previous-generation S500. I can even make a strong argument that it’s the best desktop document scanner in its price class. Unfortunately, it falls just one step short of being an Editors’ Choice.

The S1500’s good looks nicely complement an executive office decor, with its silver and black color scheme and a design that’s as sleek as any document scanner I’ve seen. The footprint is a mere 6.2 by 11.5 inches (WD), and you have the choice between opening the front output tray or not. The S1500 offers roughly a 10 percent boost in speed from the last-generation ScanSnap, to 20 pages per minute (ppm) or 40 images per minute (ipm) when scanning in duplex mode (both sides of the page at once). It shares the same 600 pixel per inch (ppi) optical resolution, which is more than enough for document scanning, and the same 50-page capacity for its automatic document feeder (ADF). Though the ScanSnap software has a number of improvements over the previous version, it uses the Microsoft Office 2007 “ribbon” layout (meaning you’ll love or hate it, depending on how you feel about the ribbon). Also, you must use the software to scan instead of choosing another program and scanning using a standard driver.

Though I feel the driver issue is significant, I still recommend the S1500. Simply put, it is hard to find a better choice at this price. —M. David Stone